Ruger M77 action build???

[MontanaRifleman]

Is an old Ruger M77 (tang safety, 1988 vintage) action worth building a custom on??? The bolt works fine and the trigger feels almost identical to my Sako 85.

I would like to chamber it to a 7mm Dakota, put a Lilja barrel on it and a McMillan stock and make a 1K rifle out of it.

Another consideration is will the Ruger style rings hold a 32oz NF NSX well enough?

Is it worth doing some work on it and trueing it up, or, should I just retire it?

Any opinions or comments?

Thanks,

Mark

 

[tpbscha]

I am currently having a M77 tang built in 6/284 with a #4 Krieger. My 'smith assured me that with proper bedding and trigger work it would shoot as well as any other action for hunting and occasional informal target shooting. For competitive shooting, there are probably better choices. Hopefully it will be complete in the next week or 2!!

 

[slammer]

I have a tang safety Ruger that started life as a 30-06 and then got sexy and became a 280 AI. It has a Shaw barrel, 2 1/4 pound trigger that breaks like glass, Bansner stock and is a shooter. I am now more into Remingtons but keep hanging on to this old Ruger.

 

[Derek M.]

Ruger actions do not have a reputation for being "accurate."

However, they are excellent in the sturdy department. My first rifle was a Ruger in 270. I traded it in when Ruger first came out with the left handed Mark IIs. I kept the same caliber.

I've had that rifle for 20 years now.

In 2003 I had a #1 Hart SS installed on it. The smith said the action was not out by much so it didn't take much truing. I must confess that in the first 50-75 shots, I was not impressed with the famed "handlapped" bbl as fouling was quite remarkable, regardless of proper break-in procedure.

However, it didn't take long to get the 130 TSX to print groups that most strive for when using Sierras. To date I'd say this rifle bullet combo has taken ~ 20 game animals.

My latest load is the 110 TTSX/58.0 H4350, and this combo is going to TX with me the first week of October for hogs/antelope. I'm also taking the 270 AM.

All I can say is that THIS rifle holds its own with any of my Remingtons or Sako rifles.

 

[linksmechanic]

I don't believe any of Rugers "accuracy problems were from the action. Once upon a time many moons ago(more than most people realize) ruger outsourced there barrels to a poor builder which caused more than average accuracy issues. I have a couple of there target models that shoot so well it almost makes me sick. They have been making there own hammer forged barrels for quite some time now. I would build off this action any day of the week if I could actually wear it out(.308).

 

[Derek M.]

I don't believe any of Rugers "accuracy problems were from the action. Once upon a time many moons ago(more than most people realize) ruger outsourced there barrels to a poor builder which caused more than average accuracy issues.

You are correct in part. I cannot recall the name of the bbl maker but seems like it was either "Hill" or "Wilson." These bbls were absolute crap.

However, Ruger actions do pose a problem with their front screw as it is angled. If the actions were considered to be "favorable" in the accuracy dept. we'd see a lot more of them in competition and custom builds.

But I will rewrite: My Ruger 270/Hart bbl shoots just as well as any Remington I own.

 

[MontanaRifleman]

Thanks for all the replies. Here are some of my thoughts... This rifle used to shoot factory ammo from aout 1.5 MOA to sub MOA. It shot my handloads, that I did not spend a lot of time fine tunig, at about .75 MOA (160 gr Partitions). I'm thinking, that if I put a good quality stock on it like a McMillan and a good qulity barrel on it, like a Lilja, had a good gunsmith true it up and put it together, spent some time and effort working up a good load, getting custom dies made, I *think* I should be able to get it to produce sub .5 MOA groups? But I'm not an expert on this.

The angled screw is one of those "what were they thinking?" deals. But, hopefully not a big issue, and it's true that Rugers aren't big competion actions, but not really looking for competition, but I am hoping for a sub MOA 1K rifle.

Also I mentioned my concern about wheter or not the Ruger rings could hold the heavy NF scope with the recoil of a 7mm Dakota. I have since thought I coulld double up the front rings.

My reasons for wanting to use this action are both practical and sentimental. Practical, I have an action and don't need to buy one. Sentimental, this is the rifle I have hunted with most of my life and all the heads and horns hanging on my walls were taken with it, including a B&C bighorn ram.

So based on what I've read here so far and my own reasoning (inexperienced reasoning) I am leaning toward doing this someday... unless someone can give me a good reason not to and back it up... like it would never get close to 1k MOA accuracy.

Thanks again for all the imput and any more comments are very welcome.

Mark

 

[JAWZ]

I have a 240 wby with a 26 inch schilln barrel and B/C stock built on a s/s ruger action and it shoots .25 - .5 all day with 100gr hornady sp doing 3350.

JAWZ

 

[MachV]

Dance with the girl ya brought!

The Ruger action would deffinatly not be my first choice but have done it a couple of times.

You run into a couple of obsticles
#1 Finding a smith that can put a barrel/stock on aint hard but doing it right and trueing the action will narrow the field down considerable!
#2 The front angled screw and irregular shaped action make bedding these critters challangeing.
#3 Mounting a scope for normal hunting on a Ruger is easy with the supplied rings but good luck finding 20MOA bases or 35mm rings for these critters!!
The smith that did my 308 Baer cheated He ground the recoil lug off, drilled a new hole for the front screw and added a recoil lug between the barrel and action.

 

[Walker1]

Is an old Ruger M77 (tang safety, 1988 vintage) action worth building a custom on??? The bolt works fine and the trigger feels almost identical to my Sako 85.

I would like to chamber it to a 7mm Dakota, put a Lilja barrel on it and a McMillan stock and make a 1K rifle out of it.

Another consideration is will the Ruger style rings hold a 32oz NF NSX well enough?

Is it worth doing some work on it and trueing it up, or, should I just retire it?

Any opinions or comments?

Thanks,

Mark

Did you ever do anythng with this rifle? I am in the same boat right now. Bought it when I was 17 and now needs a new barrel.

 

[MontanaRifleman]

I have not done anything with this rifle. I ended getting a Sendero 300 RUM and the M77 will be put away indefinitely.

-MR